Managing a company can be hard work. And starting a new company is very exciting, as well as very demanding on the time and energy of those involved. Equally, spinning off a company to form a new group can involve radical change in ways of working, as well as new product development and staff considerations.

It is easy to overlook some of the basics in the whirlwind of things that need to be done when there are so many other priorities.

One aspect that is often ignored is protecting and commercialising intellectual property (IP).

Intellectual property issues should not just be an add-on for a business. Ideas are its lifeblood. If the basic steps are not taken to protect your intellectual capital - which can include registering your designs, filing patents and protecting your brand and products with trade marks - all businesses, including small and medium companies, are putting themselves at risk.

But it is not just about patents and other formal IP such as trade marks, designs and copyright. A company's value is contained in its wider intellectual capital, where know-how, branding, skills and processes all have a part to play.

Ideas and inventions provide a company's heart beat, but it is the wider intellectual capital that drives growth and sustainability.

For example, you take on new recruits. Does their contract stop them taking ideas to a competitor?

Are their ideas and processes core to your business proposition? If your suppliers are developing novel material for you, do you own the arising intellectual property? How sure are you that no-one can steal your ideas?

Businesses do not need unnecessary risks. There is enough to worry about in the day-to-day running, particularly with start-ups, and trying to trade successfully without the fear that someone might steal your intellectual assets.

Yet it is surprising how many companies function without taking these basic steps. Protecting intellectual property at an early stage can save a great deal of heartache - and possible insolvency.

Why do companies not invest more in IP? In a survey of 80 engineering firms, about a third spent less than £5,000 a year on IP protection and some spent nothing.

Often, companies have not considered intellectual capital as a strategic asset but some are starting to wake up to its importance.

There has been a surge in patent applications over the past decade. A total of 1,660,000 patent applications were filed in 2005, showing an increase of about five per cent year on year since 1995.

And the trend is not just in the west - there was a 33 per cent rise in applications filed through the China Patent Office, making it third in the global rankings, behind Japan and the USA.

Interest in protecting IP is happening at a time when the UK's manufacturing base is also transferring to Asia, placing even more emphasis on industry staying one step ahead and protecting its ideas and inventions, if it is not to lose out.

About 80 per cent of a company's value is now in intangible assets and new financial rules are forcing firms to recognise this on the balance sheet.

Some smart investors are starting to value IP as part of their investment decisions.

Venture Capital firm Oxford Capital Partners recently commissioned an assessment of a local biotechnology company's IP during a due diligence process, and the IP was a consideration in its investment decision.

Protecting your assets need not be difficult, or even expensive. If integrated with the business plan right at the start, IP will emerge as a valuable asset.

A start-up or growing business can then trade safe in the knowledge that its core products, ideas and services are not at risk in the future, and that IP can underpin investment opportunities.

o Contact: Coller IP Management, 0870 402 1616, or e-mail jackie.maguire@colleripmanagement.com